Composite components are being utilized in a wide variety of articles of manufacture due to their high strength and light weight. This is particularly true in the field of aircraft manufacturing. Typical materials used in the manufacture of composite components include glass or graphite fibers that are embedded in resins, such as phenolic, epoxy, and bismaleimide resins. The fiber and resin materials may be formed into a desired shape using a variety of different manufacturing systems and processes, and may then be cured (e.g. under elevated pressure and temperature conditions) to produce the desired component.
It will be appreciated that a variety of prior art apparatus and methods exist for forming composite components. Conventional methods of forming composite components include those methods generally disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,702,964 B2 and 6,458,451 B1 issued to Steidl et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,690 B1 issued to Pancorbo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,275 B1 issued to Holsinger, U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,575 issued to Barron et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,269 issued to Younie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,535 issued to Burgess et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,475 issued to Mead et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,438 issued to Dublinski et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,949 issued to Leoni et al., which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Although desirable results have been achieved using such prior art systems, there is room for improvement. For example, after composite components are formed it may be difficult to perform manufacturing operations on the composite components, such as drilling holes for installation of fasteners. The proper measuring, securing, and performance of manufacturing operations on composite components may therefore be time and labor intensive. This may be particularly true when working with asymmetric composite components, which tend to warp and distort from their desired positions during handling. Accordingly, methods and systems which at least partially reduce the time, labor, and expense associated with manufacturing composite components would have utility.